The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, raised serious concerns over what it described as a possible attempt by two upper-caste candidates to misuse the Buddhist minority quota to secure admission to postgraduate medical courses.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a writ petition filed by two candidates from Haryana seeking admission under the Buddhist minority quota to a postgraduate medical course at Subharti Medical College in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The institution has been recognised as a Buddhist minority educational institution.
The petitioners claimed they had converted to Buddhism and relied on minority certificates issued by a Sub-Divisional Officer to establish their eligibility as members of the Buddhist minority community.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice noted that the petitioners belonged to the Punia caste and asked, “Punias can be in the Scheduled Caste category, Punia can be Jat also which is general category. Which Punia you are?”
When counsel replied, “We are Jat,” the Chief Justice questioned, “Then how you become [minority]?”
The counsel responded, “We have converted to Buddhism. Anybody can convert to Buddhism.”
Expressing scepticism, the Chief Justice remarked, “This is another way of fraud…you want to snatch the rights of some genuine bona fide minority….you are one of the richest, best located, upper caste communities…holding agricultural lands and having facilities…you should be proud of your merit….instead of taking the rights of who are actually deprived…”
When counsel maintained that the petitioners had genuinely adopted Buddhism, the Chief Justice cautioned, “Then everybody will start…upper castes will start adopting…. Don’t compel us to make further comments…”
The Bench noted that both candidates had appeared for NEET-PG 2025 as general category applicants and had explicitly declared that they did not belong to the Economically Weaker Sections. In this context, the Court questioned how minority certificates could have been issued to them.
In its order, the Bench observed, “We have ascertained form the counsel that the candidates are actually born as general category candidates. It appears that the issuance of certificates by SDO requires a deeper probe by the higher authorities, especially in light of the fact that in NEET-PG 2025, candidates appeared as general category candidates, and they further categorically mentioned that they do not belong to the Economically Weaker Sections of society. Then how do they become candidates belonging to the minority community?”
The Court directed the Chief Secretary of Haryana to submit a report within two weeks clarifying:
(i) the guidelines governing the issuance of minority certificates.
(ii) whether an upper-caste candidate who is not part of the EWS category and who declared general category status in the 2025 examination can be treated as belonging to a Buddhist minority community; and
(iii) if not, the basis on which the Sub-Divisional Officer issued the certificates in question.
The Supreme Court dismissed the petitioners’ application seeking admission under the minority quota.
The petition, filed by Nikhil Kumar Punia and Ekta, had sought directions to allot 50 per cent of seats in Subharti Medical College to Buddhist minority candidates, relying on an interim order passed by the Supreme Court on 20 October 2022, in SLP (C) No. 17003 of 2022. The petitioners also referred to the minority status granted to the college by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions in 2018.
The Court, however, declined to grant any relief, holding that the matter raised serious questions warranting further examination by state authorities.
Source: LiveLaw
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
